Get out Movie Review

Background

The 2017 film "Get Out" was directed by Jordan Peele and it was his directorial debut. Without getting too into the details just yet I would say for Peele's directorial debut this film was a home run. Starring Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Willams the duo plays the role of a young couple traversing life as an interracial couple, this lays out the experience of meeting Rose's, played by Williams, family. It was made clear in the film that Chris played by Kaluuya was scared and uncomfortable but Rose ensured him everything would be fine. They got to her house and the vibe felt off from the start. The question of race was in almost every conversation but not in a negative way. They were praising Chris for what they described as "god given ability" or they talked about how his genetic makeup was ideal. This freaked Chris out and he wanted to literally get out. As the film unfolded we find that this family runs an operation that takes the brain of one person and put it in the body of a new person so that people can live healthy beyond the years their body allows. Rose's mom is a hypnotist who makes people not able to resist. Rose's dad is the surgeon and her brother is really just the off the rails kid that can't handle his emotions. He really just messes things up and adds to the stress of the whole family. We discover Rose is pretty much psychotic and she plays a role of a loving person just to lure them to her dad. The film concludes with Chris escaping with the help of his quick-thinking and his best friend Rod who also added great comedic relief throughout the film, going as far as to say their whole operation is some "creepy sex ring"

Jordan Peele

I mentioned early this this was Peele's directorial debut but he was no rookie when it comes to creating. He was one of the stars on the hit comedy sketch Key and Peele which started in 2012 and ended in 2015 but still racks up views like crazy. The thing I like most about watching his work is the way he is able to pack so much dense content in simple scenes. For example we saw early in the movie on the way to the house that Rose and Chris hit a dear on a country highway. They were completely fine but this simple scene foreshadowed so many future scenes. Later in the movie Chris used a deer to kill Rose's father. Another scene that was jam packed was the scene where Chris was strapped to the chair about to undergo the hypnotism that would allow him to be operated on. I had to do some research but during this scene Chris picks what looks to be something similar to cotton out of the chair to plug his ears and Peele said this was intentional. The call backs and flash-forwards made this film seem like there was always going to be more to unpack.

Camera Work

Cinematographer Toby Oliver was the main man working on this film and he had his hands full with such dense material and style, I mean this film included elements of Horror Suspense and comedy at times. Oliver used many statgies like long distance shots, POV shots, Close ups and my favorite in this film low angle shots. We saw an example of the long ronge shot early on when Chris is enetering the house we lose sight of the family in the distance, this sets the standard for the film that we are really just spectater of whats about to go down. The long range shot also helps us as viewers understand where we are and whats around before we get a look in the house. This comes into play as we realize no one is around to help. Another shot used was the POV shots. My favorite example of this is when Chris is first being Hypnotized, we get a view of the mother sitting in her chair almost emotionless which should have been a sign to run. At this moment we finally feel involved in Chris's life as we see everything unfolding in front of his eyes. Close ups were also utilized, for example in the same scene we get a close up of Chis's face and the tears flooding down his cheeks. As a viewer I got the helpless feeling for Chris, we again were put in a psition that we just had to watch. The low angle shots are what made me love this film, it added a feeling of helplessness the entire film. Seeing everything from a low angle helps put the viewer in a fearful mindset, almost feeling trapped with no escape. It also sets the tone that Chris isn't in control of anything that is happening. Oliver did a great job with the lead role of the camera on this film, there was never a moment my eyes didn't feel glued to the screen.

Overall Opinion

Jordan Peele and his team did amazing work on this film. It tackled the task of providing an entertaining  film while also bringing to attention racial divide in our wold which was fascinating as a viewer. The film took a thrilling concept and ran with it filling in the gaps with hidden messages and lessons. I haven't looked into much other directorial work by Peele but after this film I think thats where I'm headed.